Review – The Starlight Rite By Cherise Sinclair

Her voice is known throughout the galaxy; her face is completely unknown.

Fleeing her monstrous husband back on puritanical Earth and the police assassins he's hired, singer Mella Archer becomes stranded on the frontier planet of Nexus. Desperate to survive, she picks the wrong target--Dain, the head of planetary security.

Dain is amused by the attempted theft, and when Mella is sentenced to serve time indentured as a bedroom slave, he buys her contract. As he introduces the repressed Earther to the pleasures of sex with a dominating warrior, he slowly comes to realize that the little thief has stolen his heart.

When the monster arrives on Nexus and has lunch with Dain, Mella is panic-stricken. Her owner must be part of the conspiracy to kill her, and it will only be a matter of time before the monster discovers that she’s still alive. She attempts to escape. She fails. Embittered by her lies and mistrust, Dain returns her to Indenture Hall to be sold again.

This book was a step in a different direction from what I am used to from this author. While Cherise Sinclair is an auto buy for me. I am used to her contemporary books and wondered how I would like this futuristic sci-fi book. I can say that I worried for nothing. I really enjoyed this book. I was so engrossed with the characters and the plot that I stayed up well into the night and finished this story in one sitting.

I loved Dain. He is a man who loves with all his heart and is always ready to keep those that he cares for safe. Mella is a strong woman, who goes through so much in her life and still finds the good in it. My heart went out to Mella and all that she had to endure in this story and only hoped that she would finally trust Dain enough to let him help her. The heat sizzles between these two right from the start and only burned hotter as I turned the pages. They make a beautiful couple so in tune to each other.

I enjoyed watching Mella open up and find herself. She has lived a sheltered life on Earth where sex is only a memory. Seeing her loose her prudish ways and find her enjoyment was a nice read.

The author does a wonderful job of bringing this new world to life and telling Mella and Dain’s story. I was pulled right in to the story from the first page and it did not let me go until the very end. Making me glad that I took a chance on this book.